Live art forms a fundamental part of the cultural life of society, yet it is also among the most vulnerable sectors of the economy during times of societal and economic crises. The main pillar of the sustainability of live art and the preservation of its continuity is the care for the audience - its retention, education, and development. The size of the classical music audience has been declining or stagnating in recent decades (e.g., DiMaggio & Mukhtar, 2004), and it is a subject of many discussions by professionals as well as public and cultural policy makers. One of the many points of the discussion is the need to change the approach to the presentation of live art with the aim of making art more accessible to a wider population. Expanding the audience base is a crucial component of the economically sustainable functioning of cultural institutions.

This contribution focuses on research of the characteristics and attributes of potential classical music audiences, with an emphasis on investigating attitudes towards the use and spending of leisure time and other behavioral aspects, as socio-demographic attributes of respondents are, of course, an integral part of the research. The starting point of the research is older and more recent studies dealing with various aspects of participation in live art (such as DiMaggio & Mukhtar, 2004; Upright, 2004; Chen et al., 2021; and many others) and the authors' own data collection and previous research focused on the audience of classical music. This study is part of an ongoing research project focused on barriers to participation in live art in the Czech Republic and Central Europe.

According to the available secondary statistical data on the lifestyle and consumption behavior, more than 20% of the Czech population currently ranks classical music among their favorite genres. Moreover, 12% of the Czech population declare that ‘to like classical music is important to me’ - this state has persisted in recent decades, while the trend in the popularity of classical music is rather increasing. However, the active concert audience (i.e. people who actually go to concerts) is only 3% of the population, of which two thirds are women. There is therefore a significant disparity between the number of people who 'like classical music' and those who actually go to concerts. In the academic research so far, the active audience of classical music has been investigated. The available literature focuses primarily on analyzes of concert participants, especially in the areas of audience segmentation, audience preferences, consumption behavior, the issue of cultural capital or audience development. Most of the literature covers the field of art marketing and sociology. So far, the characteristics of a considerable number of people who rank classical music among their favorite genres and, under certain assumptions, therefore constitute a potential audience for classical music, have not been closely investigated.

The aim of this study is to identify and characterize the relevant part of the Czech population that constitutes a potential audience for live classical music. In this phase of the research, an analysis of available statistical data on consumer behavior was carried out. First, the target group for the research was determined to include that part of the population that ranks classical music among their favorite genres, but does not participate in its live productions. This group currently (in 2022 and 2023) makes up 22% of the entire Czech population. Since we have data for several decades, it is possible to follow the development of the popularity of classical music over a longer time horizon and we can state a continuous rise in the popularity of classical music in the observed period.

Subsequently, a factor analysis was carried out when applying statements about the lifestyle of the respondents from the field of art and free time. From the options offered, 25 statements were preselected, which are potentially closer to the researched topic, i.e. the respondents' relationship to art and culture in a narrower sense. (examples of statements used: ‘I am interested in classical music.’ ‘I love paintings.’ ‘A visit to the theater always makes me happy.’ ‘I consider myself a person who is interested in art.’ ‘Music is an important part of my life.’ ‘I can play a musical instrument.’) The result of the factor analysis was 7 statements, which we have named: (1) art, (2) creativity, (3) fiction and formality, (4) musical inclinations, (5) anti-consumption and passivity, (6) emotions, (7) spirituality and tradition.

The mentioned factors were then used as input variables for the subsequent cluster analysis. This was done using the K-means method, when variants with four, five and six clusters were tested. We compared the variants in terms of a relatively balanced size of the clusters and in terms of their interpretability. From this comparison, based on the mentioned criteria, the variant with five clusters was the best. We then developed the obtained clusters in more detail using another series of specifically focused analyses, which included the relationship to the ‘product’, i.e. everything that has or can be closer to visits to classical music concerts, or connections to all the more significant variables from the personal characteristics of the household and the respondent. The result of the analysis is the following five clusters (their detailed characteristics are elaborated in the full version of the paper): (1) Spiritual creatives, (2) Musicians, (3) Emotional fans of culture, (4) More active art lovers, (5) Anti-consumer culture admirers.

The obtained characteristics will be used for further research. In the upcoming months, we will carry out follow-up qualitative research in the form of controlled interviews with representatives of the individual segments identified above. The goal of further research will be the identification and subsequent analysis of barriers to participation in live classical music productions among potential audiences.

References used in abstract:
BORGONOVI, Francesca, 2004. Performing arts attendance: an economic approach. Applied Economics.
DIMAGGIO, Paul; MUKHTAR, Toqir, 2004. Arts participation as cultural capital in the United States, 1982–2002: Signs of decline? Poetics.
CHEN, Geng; TANG, Pei, 2021. Similar but special: an econometric analysis of live performing arts attendance in mainland China. Journal of Cultural Economics.
UPRIGHT, Craig Barton, 2004. Social capital and cultural participation: spousal influences on attendance at arts events. Poetics.